p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"The village people simply called it "The Mountain". It was not an overly large mountain, nor was it very small. It was ordinary, so ordinary, in fact, that the villagers never gave it a second thought. The Mountain had always been there and everyone assumed it always would be. But the events taking place on The Mountain that night were anything but ordinary. If one of the village people had just so happened to be on the peak at sunset on the evening of June the 28th, he would have been witness to one of the strangest scenes he would ever see./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Standing on the very tallest rock on the very highest part of the mountain, staring down into the quiet village, was a man, dressed in a cloak. But it was not a normal cloak, not a normal cloak at all. It was a dark shade of purple, reaching all the way down to the soles of his boots, and it billowed and flapped in the wind, as if it were trying to tear itself from the shoulders of the man. But even stranger than this seemingly absurd garment was the tall, pointy hat that sat upon the top of the man's head, which somehow, unlike the cloak, seemed unaffected by the gusts of wind. The man was completely motionless, and if it hadn't been for his restless outer garment, he might have been mistaken for a very odd, and very pointless, statue./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Suddenly, a loud crack broke through the howl of the wind. Behind the stranger, where at first there had been only wind and rock, there suddenly appeared another person, dressed the same way as the first. He stumbled slightly when he first appeared, thrown off balance as if he had jumped down to the mountain from a high place, but he regained his footing quickly and looked up. His green eyes were haggard and exhausted, and what little black hair was visible under his hat was messy and untrimmed. He sighed when he saw the man on the rock, as if he had been wishing to see someone else./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Hello, Levi," said the first man without turning around. "Is it done?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"The other man, Levi, nodded. "He's in St. Mungo's now. He's unconscious, of course, but he'll wake soon. But Severus. . .must we really do this? He's just a boy."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Severus turned and stepped off his rock. But he didn't fall directly. Instead he glided smoothly down to stand in front of Levi. Levi didn't move./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Yes, brother, I'm afraid we must. A storm is coming, a storm fiercer than any we have yet had to weather." Serverus raised his hand as Levi opened his mouth to speak. "Yes, fiercer even than Lord Voldemort. He will look like child's play after our world sees what's coming. This boy is the only hope. Just like our father was, he is chosen. We must keep him safe."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Levi frowned up at Severus, who stood half a head taller than him. Then he sighed and shook his head./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Fine. I'll trust you. But I can't take care of him the whole time he's in Diagon Alley. The school year doesn't start for another month, and I need to be in Russia by next week for the Ministry's meeting."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Severus waved his hand. "I'll send someone to take him for you in three days time. Until then...just make sure he doesn't get into trouble. You should have plenty of experience with that," he added with a small smile./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Levi grinned. "Only because I'm older doesn't mean that it was all my fault, Severus. All right, then. Three days. See you soon."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"With that, he turned and disappeared on the spot, and another loud crack echoed out from the spot he had just vacated./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Severus stood still for a moment, seemingly lost in thought. Then he merely turned around and floated back up to his post on the rock, as if men appearing and disappearing in front of his very eyes was a normal occurrence. He wrapped his cloak tighter around him, trying to block out the wind, squinted his eyes, and shuddered./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""So much death tonight," he muttered. "Will it be worth it?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"As he spoke, the wind suddenly stopped. The village below seemed to hold its breath for a moment, every moving thing frozen in a tense silence. And then, Severus heard an angry scream echo up from the village, and the valley exploded into flames./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""And so we begin," he said aloud. Then he also turned around and disappeared./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"And below, the village burned in complete and utter silence./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Standing on the very tallest rock on the very highest part of the mountain, staring down into the quiet village, was a man, dressed in a cloak. But it was not a normal cloak, not a normal cloak at all. It was a dark shade of purple, reaching all the way down to the soles of his boots, and it billowed and flapped in the wind, as if it were trying to tear itself from the shoulders of the man. But even stranger than this seemingly absurd garment was the tall, pointy hat that sat upon the top of the man's head, which somehow, unlike the cloak, seemed unaffected by the gusts of wind. The man was completely motionless, and if it hadn't been for his restless outer garment, he might have been mistaken for a very odd, and very pointless, statue./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Suddenly, a loud crack broke through the howl of the wind. Behind the stranger, where at first there had been only wind and rock, there suddenly appeared another person, dressed the same way as the first. He stumbled slightly when he first appeared, thrown off balance as if he had jumped down to the mountain from a high place, but he regained his footing quickly and looked up. His green eyes were haggard and exhausted, and what little black hair was visible under his hat was messy and untrimmed. He sighed when he saw the man on the rock, as if he had been wishing to see someone else./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Hello, Levi," said the first man without turning around. "Is it done?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"The other man, Levi, nodded. "He's in St. Mungo's now. He's unconscious, of course, but he'll wake soon. But Severus. . .must we really do this? He's just a boy."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Severus turned and stepped off his rock. But he didn't fall directly. Instead he glided smoothly down to stand in front of Levi. Levi didn't move./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Yes, brother, I'm afraid we must. A storm is coming, a storm fiercer than any we have yet had to weather." Serverus raised his hand as Levi opened his mouth to speak. "Yes, fiercer even than Lord Voldemort. He will look like child's play after our world sees what's coming. This boy is the only hope. Just like our father was, he is chosen. We must keep him safe."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Levi frowned up at Severus, who stood half a head taller than him. Then he sighed and shook his head./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""Fine. I'll trust you. But I can't take care of him the whole time he's in Diagon Alley. The school year doesn't start for another month, and I need to be in Russia by next week for the Ministry's meeting."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Severus waved his hand. "I'll send someone to take him for you in three days time. Until then...just make sure he doesn't get into trouble. You should have plenty of experience with that," he added with a small smile./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Levi grinned. "Only because I'm older doesn't mean that it was all my fault, Severus. All right, then. Three days. See you soon."/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"With that, he turned and disappeared on the spot, and another loud crack echoed out from the spot he had just vacated./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"Severus stood still for a moment, seemingly lost in thought. Then he merely turned around and floated back up to his post on the rock, as if men appearing and disappearing in front of his very eyes was a normal occurrence. He wrapped his cloak tighter around him, trying to block out the wind, squinted his eyes, and shuddered./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""So much death tonight," he muttered. "Will it be worth it?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"As he spoke, the wind suddenly stopped. The village below seemed to hold its breath for a moment, every moving thing frozen in a tense silence. And then, Severus heard an angry scream echo up from the village, and the valley exploded into flames./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;""And so we begin," he said aloud. Then he also turned around and disappeared./p
p style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium;"And below, the village burned in complete and utter silence./p